A parable

There was a king over a beautiful kingdom. His people loved him and he loved them. But when the king was off to war, his enemy came and took over his kingdom. He deceived the people into thinking the king would never return. He convinced them that whatever their hearts desire, they could take, with no regard for anyone else. Medicines were used up and forgotten so sickness and disease became epidemic. The food supplies were used up and people started going hungry. Soon anarchy reigned and people completely forgot about their king and the peaceful lives they lived under his rule.

Eventually, word came to the king on the battlefront about the state of his kingdom. He knew that if he sent a detachment of troops from his army that the people would fight for their newfound 'freedom' to fulfill their every desire and there would be many casualties. So he decided to send his son, the prince, to start a subversive movement among the people to remember their love for him.

So under the cover of darkness the price returned to the kingdom disguising himself as a peasant. He brought with him many medicines that had been forgotten under the current regime and healed many sick people. He re-taught them how to plant seed and tend gardens so the hungry were fed. And all the while he reminded the people how much better life used to be with the king, inviting them to return to that life, and promising that the king would return from war and restore things to how they should be.

Soon the prince began to gather quite a following for the king. When the evil tyrant heard of this subversive movement he had the prince arrested and brought to the castle for trial. He was declared a traitor and according to the laws of the land the only sentence for treason was death. Once again, word came to the king about the plight of his son. When he heard this the king’s face fell and he said, “My people have betrayed their king. And it is for their act of treason my son must die."

~An excerpt from Sunday's message on the gospel

Hitchhiker's guide to poverty culture

I took a day off and went in to Swakop today. It was great to spend some time alone and to get back behind my camera again. I took about 250 shots walking around town, visiting shops, watching kids play on the beach. It’s easy to take photos in Swakop because everyone’s used to tourists with cameras and the town is so photogenic. And I even ran into my friends Marcus & Jojo from Okahandja who were also taking a little weekend downtime, so that was a blessing.

I’ve frequently been asked about hitchhiking from people in the States who are a little leery or surprised or shocked. It always makes me smile because it’s just natural here. I suppose if America had more people without cars than with then hitchhiking would be more common there too. It got me thinking about how much of poverty culture is shaped by necessity. It’s understood that those who have help those who don’t. This concept is largely lost in an individualized, materialistic, self-propagating culture. Everyone looks out for number one and doesn’t even notice the needs of others. Perhaps our culture would be more shaped by necessity if we were a little more aware of the needs of those around us.

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

New Roommates & New Adventures

This week Tom and Peter moved in to Mantown. They are volunteers from the UK with African Inland Mission staying here in Arandis through November. Tom just graduated high school and is taking a year off before going to university next year. Peter just graduated from university and is taking some time off before joining the workforce. It’s nice to have some other guys around who are closer to my age. They’re also working with Boniface planning some leadership training for the student leaders in the youth group and also an afternoon soccer club.

Next weekend the Jr. Town Council is planning an Arandis Sports Weekend. Among the many competitions will be a volleyball tournament including teams that have been invited from Windhoek and Walvis Bay. My new friend Allen asked me to play with his team, so this could be interesting. I love these opportunities to get involved in the community that other missionaries tend to pass up.

Being an elementary school teacher hasn’t been so bad, granted I only teach one class 3 days a week for seven 4th-5th graders. So far we’ve covered creation and the fall and we’ll finish up this week with the flood on Friday. We’re also memorizing the books of the Old Testament. This week we started off easy with just the first five books – although pronouncing Deuteronomy has been a bit of a challenge for some. I know, I’m such a mean teacher, aren’t I.

No Grootfontein

Apparently someone on the other end got sick so this weekend’s outreach has been cancelled. It’s really too bad because I was looking forward to the discipleship opportunities it would present within our team, especially those who’ve never been on an outreach before. There’s plans in the works for an outreach to Keetmanshoop in the south, so hopefully that one will work out.

Sodium Chlorawhat?

Starting next week I’m going to start teaching the 4th and 5th graders at Talitha Kumi Primary School, the private school started by Hope’s Promise. I wanted an opportunity to teach the Bible to young kids trusting that it will help me better teach the Bible to teens and adults. Sometimes it’s easy to complicate the message with complex ideas and big theological sounding words. With kids, that’s impossible. If I have to explain it to a child, I have to have a pretty simple understanding of it myself.

I’ll be teaching a much simplified version of the Old Testament curriculum I’m working on. I hope it will give them a framework and a timeline to understand how all the pieces fit together. Often we hear a story here and a story there, but have no overarching knowledge of redemptive history. The lessons are designed to teach major biblical themes while chronologically studying through Old Testament history.

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For those of you who know her, congratulations are in order for Clara. She took the gold medal at the National Science Fair competition in Windhoek last weekend! Not only that, but Arandis’ Kolin Foundation Secondary School is now the top school in the nation for science, even over Windhoek High School and St Paul’s prep school. That’s pretty big news and people here are quite exited about it.